It looks like Microsoft may be having second thoughts about the decision to remove the Start Button from Windows 8. Rumblings today suggest that Windows 8.1 may re-introduced the beloved Button.

For those who wish Windows 8 was really more of a performance and stability update to Windows 7 and could do without the whole “Metro” experience, your prayers may be answered.

Recently, a fresh build of Windows 8.1 leaked to the web revealed that Microsoft has been tinkering with a core DLL file. One major change is that there appears to now be support for a toggle that would allow users to boot directly to Desktop Mode and bypass the Start Screen altogether.

It’s not a major convenience, really — it’s only saving you one mouse click every reboot. But think of the overworked network administrator that wants to upgrade to the latest and greatest Windows OS. He or she doesn’t want to have to send out repeated, business-wide emails informing people that they now need to click the Desktop tile to get to their desktops. It’d be infinitely better if Windows just went there.

Don’t get too excited just yet, though. ZD Net’s Mary Jo Foley has always been a very reliable source for Microsoft tidbits, but news that the Start Button will make a comeback has only been put forward to her by a single source.

Without evidence in the early builds to confirm this — or additional sources corroborating an actual change, and not that Microsoft is mulling things over — we’ll have to wait for Build to find out whether the Start Button really is going to return in Windows 8.1.